Apparatus for engraving plates and other objects



May 10, 1932. R s. PHILLIPS 1,357,235

APPARATUS FOR ENGRAVING PLATES AND OTHER OBJECTS Filed May 5, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 May 10, 1932. R. s. PHILLIPS 1,857,235

APPARATUS FOR ENGRAVING'PLATES AND OTHER OBJECTS Filed May 5, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 KM PW y 10, 1932- R. s. PHILLIPS 1,857,285

APPARATUS FOR ENGRAVING PLATES AND OTHER OBJECTS Filed May 5, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented May 10, 1932 omits s'ra'rss .a'rENr oFFicE ROBERT S. PHILLIPS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN HAIR FELT COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS APPARATUS FOR rineaavme PLATES AND OTHER OBJECTS Application filed May 5, 1930. Serial No. 449,794.

The invention relates to an apparatus for engraving plates and other objects.

One object of the invention is to provide a device for engraving characters whereby the cutting tool moves relative to a fixed center to form a true reproduction of the characters under the control of a tracing tool which moves over a template having similar characters but in distorted form. By this method of controlling the engraving tool from a fixed center accurate spacing of engraved characters at different points on large surfaces may be effected and the cutting apparatus may be readily centered from any predetermined fixed point.

A further object of the invention is to provide a portable engraving apparatus which may be readily moved about and set up for operation to accommodate ,thework instead of the practice heretofore generally employed of bringing thework to an engraving machine which is maintained in a fixed position and in the use of which it is necessary to position and adjust the work, it being noted that the present apparatus may work on objects, such as felter plates,'weighing several tons or other massive objects which could not be handled by the ordinary engraving machines.

The invention further consists in the apparatus hereinafter described and more particularly pointed out by claims at the conclusion hereof.

In the drawings Fig. 1 is a side elevation view of an apparatus embodying the invention, parts being broken away; 1

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the apparatus, with the work in position, parts of the work being broken away; 7

Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view taken onthe line 33 of Fig.1;

Fig. 4 is a detail sectional View takenon the line 44 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5-is a detail sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2, with the work in position;

Fig. 6 is a detail sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a detail sectional view taken on the line 7-7 of Fig.2;

Fig. 8 is a detail sectional view taken on the line 8-8 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 9 is a detail sectional view taken on the line 99 of Fig. 8.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, the apparatus includes a'suitable base frame 10 provided with levelling screw jacks 11 and including longitudinally extending side frame mem bers 12 and a centrally disposed frame member 1.3.

A template supporting frame or table 14, of any suitable construction, is mounted on the base frame 10 and standards 15 are mounted on the member 12, while a standard 16 is mounted at the outer end of the member 13.

The standard 16 has a bore 17 formed in its upper end and a center tool 18 has its threaded shank 19 mounted in said bore and held in the desired position of vertical adjustment by a nut 20 adjustably mounted on saidthreaded shank.

The standard 16 also has a support and guide member 21 mounted to turn thereon at its upper end on thrust washers 21 and relative to a vertically adjustable set-collar 22 on said standard. The member 21 is provided with spaced, parallel, guide bores 23 in which the cutter tool carrying guide rods 23 are slidably mounted. These rods 23 also have supporting, grooved rollers 24: slidably mounted thereon and running on an arcuate track 24 whose center is that of the center tool 18'. This track is vertically, adjustably mounted in the spaced standards 15, as shown in Fig. 4,by itsmounting in the slotted'upper ends of said standards to which it is ad-.

justably held by clamping bolts 25 passing through said track and slots 26in said stand- A tool carrymg support 34 is secured to the rods 23 intermediate the center 18 and the tracing point 32 and, as shown in Fig. 8, said support has a central arbor portion 35 and side flanges 35 from which depend rods 36 connected with the casing of a suitable electric motor 37 to suspend the same from the support 34. The drive shaft 38 of the motor is connected by an Oldham coupling 39 with a tool drive shaft 40 journalled in the arbor portion 34 and also having its upper, flanged end 41 associated with a rollerthrust-bearing 42 mounted on a collar 43 which has a threaded portion 44 vertically, adjustably engaging the upper threaded end 45 of the arbor portion 34 and secured in the desired position by a manually operable setscrew 46. The tool shaft 40, at its upper end above the flange 41,,as shown in Figs. 8 and.9, has a shoulder 47' and a semi-cylindrical tool-receiving projection 47 projecting upwardly therefrom and cooperating with a removable, semi-cylindrical tool engaging lock 48 to clamp the cutting tool 49 to said shaft when said parts are moved into clamping engagement with the tool by a pair of semi-cylindrical clamping clips 50, each hav ing laterally extending side ears 51 in which the clamping bolts 52 are mounted. The cutting tool 49 extends into a bore 53 in the shaft 40, which bore is continued up through the clamp by the semi-cylindrical recess-es 54 and 55 in the parts 47 and 48, respectively. Thus it will be noted that the tool may be vertically adjusted in the tool chuck above described and the chuck itself may be verti,-

. cally adjusted through a certain range by the adjustment of the collar 43 relative to the arbor 34, the coupling 39 permitting this adjustment.

The matrixor master template 5.6 is in the form of a plate mounted on the table 24 and clamped thereto against movement by a plu-. ra-lity ofuset-screws 57 passing through the side portions 58 of said table and. engageable with the metal strips or bars 59 that abut the edges oi said template 56. The characters 60 to be reproduced are formed in the template in accordance with the following method. A drawing of the characters to be reproduced is made and laid on a table at the same distance from a fixed center as it is desired that they shall appear on the finished work. Then with the aid of a tracing bar, slidably and pivotally mounted on this center and moved to trace over the drawn characters, a set of characters such as the characters 60 of the template are laid out'at a distance from the center corresponding to their position on the apparatus, which characters, it will be observed, are radially distorted. These characters are then cut, etched or otherwise formed in the template 56 and when the reverse of this process is carried nh apparatu th the acin tool- 32 moving over the characters 60 and with the cutting tool 49 moving over the path originally laid out for the true characters, these characters will be reproduced in the work;

For moving the cutting tool 49 simultaneously with the tracing tool 32, manually-operatcd means are provided for sliding the rods 23 relative to the center support 21 and the rollers 24 while said rods with the cutting tool support 34 and the tracing tool support 29 move "longitudinally with'said rods and swing with said rods about the center 18. This means comprises a pair of bars 61 suitably clamped to the rods 23 and a manuallyoperable lever 62 associated therewith. This lever 62 is pivotally mounted at 63 on one of the bars and is operatively connected intermediate its ends by a link 64 to the-outer end of a lever-65 pivoted at 66 on an arm 67 integralwith the pivot support 21 and operatively connected intermediate its ends by a link 68 which is pivotally connected at 69 to the other bar 61. Thus by moving the lever 62 the bars 23, and consequently the cutting and tracing'tools, are reciprocated as desired and the lever 62 or a handle 70' at the outer end of one of the bars 23 may be held and the bars-23 swung about the center '18 andconsequently the cutting and tracing tools therewith as the operator traces the design or characters 60 by the movement of the tracing tool 32 in the grooves iorming these characters in the template 56.

When the work is in progress the motor 37 for-driving the tool49 is in operation and the tool is constantly rotating and has been adjusted, as previously described, to cut a groove into the work, here shown as a felter plate 71 V These felter plates'ane massive iron castings weighing over a ton and the plate is suspended from any suitable support, for example, by means 72 withhooks 73'engageable in eyes74 formed in the topof the plate and at a height to permitthe engraving machine tobe moved beneath said plate. The base 10o]? the machine is then levelled by the adjustment of the screws 11 and the support 21 and the tracks 24 are then adjusted to the proper heightand with'the centering tool 1-8 brought up to register with the predetermined center point in the plate, it being noted that the under surface of the felter plate is provided with a plurality of depressions o-r grooves 75 and square elevations 76 and that the end of the center tool 18 is grooved to fit within the grooves 75 at a junctionpoint, as shown in Fig. 6. Vith the parts thus adjusted and the cutting tool 49 adjusted to the proper height, the appara- 1 tus is =manipulated as previously described to cut out the characters or designs in the face of the plate in accordance with the tem- Plate 55 but he t ue r la ion of the haracters or design as (niginally laid out to form, for example, the character 77 in the bottom face of the plate, as shown in Fig. 3, it being noted that where the groove is deep the tool may be worked over the plate several times and its height adjusted each time to gradually cut out or engrave the character or design in the face of the plate.

I desire it to be understood that this invention is not to be limited to any particular form or arrangement of parts except insofar as such limitations areincluded in the claims.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In an engraving apparatus, the combination of a supporting frame, a centering tool mounted on said frame and movable to an operative position relative to a fixed piece of work, a support pivotally mounted on said frame and having its pivotal axis coaxial with the center of said centering tool, a movable tool carrying frame having members slidably mounted in said support, means at a distance from said support for supporting the outer end of said tool carrying frame and permitting radial and longitudinal movement of said members, a power-operated cut ting tool mounted on said tool carrying frame at a predetermined distance from said centering tool, a tracing template, a tracing tool mounted on said tool carrying frame at a predetermined distance from the center, and means for moving said tool carrying frame in accordance with the movements of the tracing tool over said template to guide the cutting tool against the fixed piece of work to reproduce the design or character of the template.

2. In an engraving apparatus, the combination of a portable supporting frame movable to a position for operation of the apparatus on a piece of work in a fixed position, a tool carrying frame pivotally and longitudinally movably mounted on said supporting frame, a power-driven cutting tool mounted on said tool carrying frame-at a predetermined distance from the pivotal axis of said frame and o-peratively engageable with the fixed piece of work, a tracing tool mounted on said tool carrying frame at a different radial distance from the pivotal axis of said frame, a template with which said tracing tool cooperates to guide the cutting tool during the movements of said tool carrying frame to reproduce the character or design of the template on the Work, and means for moving said tool carrying frame to bodily move the cutting tool in accordance with the movements of the tracing tool over said template.

3. In an engraving apparatus, the combination of a supporting frame, a centering tool mounted on said frame, a support p-ivotally mounted on said frame and having its pivotal axis coaxial with the center of said centering tool, a movable tool carrying frame having spaced, parallelly disposed members slidably said members, a power-operated cutting tool mounted on said tool carrying frame at a predetermined radial distance from said centering tool, a tracing tool mounted on said tool carrying frame at a predetermined distance beyond said cutting tool, a tracing template with which said tracing tool cooperates to control the movements of said tool carrying frame and means for moving said tool carrying frame inaccordance with the movements of the tracing tool over said template to guide the cutting tool against the Work to reproduce the design or character of the template, said template having a radially distorted design or character formed therein and said cutting tool being spaced radially from said template so as to reproduce the true design or character on the work.

4. In an engraving apparatus, the combination of a supporting frame, a centering tool mounted on said frame, a movable tool-carrying frame, means for supporting and guiding said tool carrying frame for movement radially relative to said centering tool and about said centering tool as a center, a powerdriven cutting tool carried by said tool carrying frame at a predetermined distance from said centering tool, a tracing tool carried by said tool carrying frame at a different predetermined distance from said centering tool, and a template cooperating with said tracing tool to control its movements and hence the movements of said tool carrying frame and cutting toolto reproduce the'design or character of the template on a fixed piece of work.

5. In an engraving apparatus, the combination of a supporting frame, a centering tool mounted on said frame, a support pivotally mounted on said frame and having its pivotal axis coaxial with the center of said centering tool and having spaced guides, a pair of rods mounted to slide in said spaced guides, a support for the free end of said rods comprising an arcuate track having as its center the center of the centering tool, rollers mounted on said track in which said rods are slidably mounted, a motor-driven cutter carried on said rods between said track and said centering tool, a template supported on said supporting frame beyond said track, a tracing tool carried by said rods and movable over said template to control the movements of said rods. and cutting tool, and means for simultaneouslyshifting and pivo-tally swinging both rods in accordance with the movements of the tracing tool relative to said template whereby to move said rods and cutting nation of a supporting frame, a centering tool mounted on said frame, a support pivotally mounted on said framea-nd having its pivotal axis-coaxial with the center of said centering tool and having spaced guides, a pair of rods mountedto slide in said spaced guides, a support for the free end of said rods comprising an airouate track having as its center the center of thecentering tool, rollers mounted 19 on said track in which said rods are slidably mounted, a motor-driven cutter carried on said rods between said track and said centering tool, a template supported on said supporting frame beyond said track, a tracing 15 {tool carried by said rods and movable over said template to control the movements of said rods and cutting tool, means for simultaneously shifting and p'ivotally swinging both rods in accordance with the movements 29 of the tracing tool relative to said template whereby 3130 move said rods and cutting tool to control the movements of the cutting tool overthe'work to reproduce the design or character of the template thereon, means for 25 leveling the supporting frame, and means for leveling the tool carrying frame.

7. In an engraving apparatus, the combination of a supportingframe, a centering tool mounted von said frame, ,a support pivotally V mounted on said frame and having its pivotal axis coaxial with the center of said centering tooland-having spaced guides, a'pair of rods mounted to slide in said spaced guides, a support for the free end of said rods com- 7? prising an arcuate track having as itscenter the center of the centering tool, rollers mounted on said track in which said rods are 'slidably mounted, a motor-driven cutter carried on said rods between saidtrack and 9 said centering tool, a template supported on said supporting frame beyond said track, a tracing tool carried by said rods and movable over said template to control the movements of said'rods and cutting tool, means comprising a manually-operated lever mounted on said tool carrying frame, a lever mounted on said support, and linkage connecting said levers together and to said tool carrying frame for simultaneously shifting a and pivotally swinging both rods in accordance with the movements of the tracing tool relative to said template whereby to move said rods and cutting tool to control the movements of the cutting tool over-the work to reproduce the design or character of the template thereon. r In testimony whereof, I affix my signature;

ROBERT S. PHILLIPS. 

